Method for controlling external device and remote controller thereof

ABSTRACT

A method for controlling devices connected together, and which includes determining a type of a first device when the first device is connected to a transmitting device, determining what key buttons on a remote controller are needed to operate the determined type of the first device, activating the key buttons on the remote controller that are needed to operate the determined type of the first device, receiving an input signal indicating a selection of at least one key button needed to operate the determined type of the first device, transmitting the received input signal to a second device that is different than the first device, generating, by the second device, a remote control signal corresponding to the received input signal, transmitting, by the second device, the generated remote control signal to the first device, and performing a function on the first device corresponding the input signal indicating the selection of said at least one key button on the remote controller.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(a), this application claims the benefit ofearlier filing date and right of priority to Korean Application No.10-2009-0082187, filed on Sep. 1, 2009, Korean Application No.10-2009-0089320, filed on Sep. 22, 2009, and Korean Application No.10-2009-0089499, filed on Sep. 22, 2009, the contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for controlling an externaldevice and a remote controller thereof, and more particularly, to amethod for controlling an external device in a system transmitting andreceiving a media signal using a wireless network.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

A display device includes a receiver that receives a media signalincluding video and audio from a broadcasting system, a cable system,and other external apparatuses (VCR, DVD, etc.) and processes andoutputs the received media signal. The display device also includes adisplay unit that displays the video of the processed media signal on ascreen. In addition, the receiver and the display unit can beindividually separated from each other. For example, a wireless typedisplay system can transmit a media signal received using an additionalreceiving device through wireless communication and displays thetransmitted media signal on the display.

The display device can also be interfaced with several different typesof devices such as a disc player, home theatre systems, game playerdevices, etc. Thus, the user must operate several different remotecontrol devices to operate the individual devices. The operation of theseveral different devices is often cumbersome and tedious for users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to address theabove-noted and other problems.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel system andmethod for operating devices connected together.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, thepresent invention provides in one aspect a method for controllingdevices connected together, and which includes determining a type of afirst device when the first device is connected to a transmittingdevice, determining what key buttons on a remote controller are neededto operate the determined type of the first device, activating only thekey buttons on the remote controller that are needed to operate thedetermined type of the first device, receiving an input signalindicating a selection of at least one key button needed to operate thedetermined type of the first device, transmitting the received inputsignal to a second device that is different than the first device,generating, by the second device, a remote control signal correspondingto the received input signal, transmitting, by the second device, thegenerated remote control signal to the first device, and performing afunction on the first device corresponding the input signal indicatingthe selection of said at least one key button on the remote controller.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a system forcontrolling devices connected together, and which includes a displaydevice including a remote control interface and an extraction device, aremote control configured to interface and control an operation of thedisplay device through the remote control interface, and a transmittingdevice configured to interface with an external apparatus and thedisplay device. Further, when an input key is selected on the remotecontrol intended for performing an operation on the external apparatus,the remote control is further configured to generate a first remotecontrol signal including control data corresponding to performing theoperation on the external apparatus and to transmit the remote controlsignal to the remote control interface of the display device, thedisplay device is further configured to convert the first remote controlsignal received from the remote control including the control data intoa wireless control communication signal different than the first remotecontrol signal and to transmit the wireless communication signal to thetransmitting device, and the transmitting device is further configuredto receive the wireless communication signal from the receiving device,generate a second remote control signal that includes the control dataand transmit the second remote control signal including the control datato the external apparatus such that the external apparatus can beoperated via the remote control interfacing with the display device.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by illustration only, since various changes and modificationswithin the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings,which are given by illustration only, and thus are not limitative of thepresent invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a transmitting/receiving system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receiving systemaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting device accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a receiving device and a remotecontroller according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an externaldevice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an externaldevice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a code format of an infrared signalaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receiving systemaccording to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receiving systemaccording to still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a remote controller according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an externaldevice according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12 to 14 are diagrams illustrating methods for displaying a keybutton of a remote controller according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receiving systemaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a method for displaying a key buttonof a remote controller according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receiving systemaccording to still another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 18 to 20 are diagrams illustrating a method for displaying a keybutton of a remote controller according to other embodiments of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a method for controlling an external device and a remotecontroller thereof according to embodiments of the present inventionwill be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a signal transmitting/receivingsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown,the transmitting/receiving system includes a transmitting device 100 anda receiving device 200. Further, the transmitting device 100 receives amedia signal including video and audio from a broadcasting system, acable system, or external apparatuses and converts the received mediasignal into data of a wireless transmittable format and wirelesslytransmits the data to the receiving device 200.

The receiving device 200 then receives and processes data wirelesslytransmitted from the transmitting device 100 using one or more wirelesscommunication schemes for wirelessly transmitting and receiving datapreviously established between the transmitting device 100 and thereceiving device 200. The receiving device 200 may also be a televisionor a receiving device 200 associated with a television. Further, thetransmitting device 100 includes various input terminals such as ahigh-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) terminal connected with anantenna or external apparatuses, a universal serial bus (USB) terminal,a component terminal, an external input terminal, an RGB terminal, anantenna cable terminal, etc. and can receive the media signal using theinput terminals. For example, the media signal may include a mediasignal received using the antenna, a cable, or the like or video signalsand audio signals received from connected external devices in thetransmitting device 100.

In addition, the transmitting device 100 may be a set-top box (STB) thatreceives the media signal using a wired or wireless network and convertsand wireless transmits the received media signal to the receiving device200. However, the transmitting device 100 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention is not limited to the set-top box (STB) and mayinclude all kinds of devices that can receive the media signaltransmitted from the outside and wirelessly transmit the received mediasignal to the receiving device 200. For example, the transmitting device100 may be implemented by being provided in a computer or a portalterminal such as a cellular phone, etc.

Further, the receiving device 200 receives and processes the datawirelessly transmitted from the transmitting device 100, and thereafteroutputs the video or audio included in the media signal. For example,the receiving device 200 can convert the video signal wirelesslytransmitted from the transmitting device 100 into a displayable formatand output the video signal on a display screen. More specifically, whenthe video signal wireless transmitted from the transmitting device 100is encoded by a coding scheme such as an MPEG, etc., the receivingdevice 200 decodes the received video signal to output the decoded videosignal to the display screen.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the transmittingdevice 100 and the receiving device 200 can transmit and receive themedia signal using various wireless communication schemes, for example,wireless communication schemes such as wireless HD (WiHD), wireless homedigital interface (WHDi), wireless Lan (WiFi), etc. In more detail, theWiHD uses a frequency band of approximately 60 GHz and can transmit andreceive data at a transmission rate of approximately 4 Gbps to therebytransmit HD video data of 1080p (1902×1080) without compression.However, WiHD uses a high frequency band of 60 GHz such that a datatransmitting/receiving distance is approximately 10 m and thetransmission/reception quality may be easily influenced by obstacles inthe vicinity of an installation space.

In addition, WHDi can transmit and receive the data at transmission rateof approximately 1.8 Gbps using a frequency band of approximately 5 GHz.Further, WHDi uses a comparatively low high frequency band of 5 GHz suchthat the data transmitting/receiving distance is approximately 30 m andthe transmission/reception quality is not greatly influenced byobstacles in the vicinity of the installation space. Meanwhile, when HDvideo data of 1080p (1920×1080) is transmitted using WHDi at thetransmission rate of approximately 1.8 Gbps, the transmitting device 100needs to partially compress and transmit the HD video data.

Further, WiFi can transmit and receive the data at transmission rate ofapproximately 54 Mbp using a frequency band of approximately 2.4 GHz.The WiFi also uses a comparatively low high frequency band of 2.4 GHzsuch that the data transmitting/receiving distance is approximately 50to 200 m and the transmission/reception quality is not significantlyinfluenced by obstacles in the vicinity of the installation space.Meanwhile, when HD video data of 1080p (1920×1080) is transmitted usingWiFi at the low transmission rate of approximately 54 Mbp, thetransmitting device 100 needs to compress and transmit the HD video dataand as a result, the image quality of the video signal received from thereceiving device 200 may be deteriorated.

Further, the transmitting device 100 and the receiving device 200 canwirelessly transmit and receive data for the media signal using variousshort-range wireless communication schemes, for example, communicationschemes such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, or binary code division multipleaccess (CDMA), etc. in addition to the above-mentioned wirelesscommunication schemes. Also, the transmitting device 100 and thereceiving device 200 can transmit video and audio data using any one ofvarious wireless communication schemes. In addition, the transmittingdevice 100 and the receiving device 200 can transmit and receive thevideo and audio data using two or more schemes of the wirelesscommunication schemes, for example, any one of two or more supportableschemes can be selected according to the performance, installationenvironment, video resolution, etc. of each of the transmitting device100 and the receiving device 200 to be used for datatransmission/reception.

Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receivingsystem according to another embodiment of the present invention. Asshown, the system includes the transmitting device 100, the receivingdevice 200, an external apparatus 300, and a remote controller 400. Thetransmitting device 100 and the receiving device 200 were discussed withrespect to FIG. 1. Also, as discussed above, the transmitting device 100and the receiving device 200 can transmit and receive data using awireless communication scheme, i.e., WiHD, WHDi, WiFi, or the like.

In addition, the transmitting device 100 is connected to the externalapparatus 300 and can receive a video signal and an audio signal fromthe external apparatus 300. For example, the transmitting device 100 caninclude input/output terminals such as an HDMI, a USB, a component, anRGB, etc. for transmitting and receiving data to and from the externalapparatus 300. Further, the external apparatus 300 may be variousdevices including a video playing device such as a DVD player, a Divixplayer, a blue-ray player, or the like, a set-top box such as an IPTVset-top box, a cable set-top box, a satellite set-top box, or the like,a PC, a game machine, a home theater, a portable terminal, a hard disk(HDD) recorder, etc. However, the external apparatus 300 connected tothe transmitting device 100 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention is not limited to the above-mentioned devices and may includevarious devices that are connected to the transmitting device 100 tooutput a media signal such as the video signal to the transmittingdevice 100.

In addition, the remote controller 400 transmits a remote control signalfor controlling the receiving device 200 according to a user input, andthe receiving device 200 receives the remote control signal from theremote controller 400 to perform an operation corresponding to theremote control signal. For example, the remote controller 400 includes aplurality of key buttons for a user's key input and generates andtransmits a remote control signal corresponding to the user's input forany one of the plurality of key buttons to the receiving device 200.

More specifically, the remote controller 400 can generate and transmitan infrared signal corresponding to the user's key input, and thereceiving device 200 can receive the infrared signal and perform anoperation corresponding to the received infrared signal. For example,the remote controller 400 and the receiving device 200 can include an IRtransmitter and an IR receiver for transmitting and receiving theinfrared signal, respectively. However, the present invention is notlimited to transmission and reception of the remote control signal usingthe infrared communication scheme and the remote control signal can betransmitted and received between the remote controller 400 and thereceiving device 200 using various wireless communication methods, forexample, a communication method using an RF signal or an optical signaldifferent than the infrared communication scheme.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the remotecontroller 400 can also transmit a remote control signal for controllingthe external apparatus 300, for example, an infrared signal to thereceiving device 200. That is, the remote controller 400 can receive keyinputs corresponding to a predetermined operation of the externalapparatus 300 from a user, and generate and transmit an infrared signalcorresponding to the key inputs to the receiving device. In thisinstance, the receiving device 200 receives the infrared signal for theexternal apparatus 300 from the remote controller 400 and wirelesslytransmits data for controlling the external apparatus 300, which isincluded in the received infrared signal to the transmitting device 100.Thus, the receiving device 200 converts the signal received for theremote controller 400 (e.g., an infrared signal) into a WiHD, WHDi,WiFi, etc. signal used to communicate with the transmitting device 100.

More specifically, the receiving device 200 wirelessly transmits controldata for the external apparatus 300 to the transmitting device 100 usinga wireless network connected to the transmitting device 100, forexample, the wireless communication scheme such as the WiHD, WHDi, WiFi,or the like. In addition, the transmitting device 100 can wirelesslyreceive the control data from the receiving device 200 and transmit thereceived control data to the external apparatus 300. Therefore, theexternal apparatus 300 can perform an operation corresponding to user'skey input using the remote controller 400.

Also, in order to control the external apparatus 300, the transmittingdevice 100, and the receiving device 200 shown in FIG. 2, the userpreviously had to use a plurality of remote control devicescorresponding to the devices. Also, in order to control any one deviceof the devices, the user had to move near a location adjacent to thedevice with the correct remote control device and perform key input inthe remote control device, which corresponds to his/her desiredoperation. Therefore, when the external apparatus 300 is installed faraway from the receiving device 200, the user who watches a broadcast ata location adjacent to the receiving device 200 has to inconvenientlymove to the location where the corresponding apparatus is installed inorder to control the external apparatus 300.

However, according to an embodiment of the present invention, thereceiving device 200 receives the remote control signal for controllingthe external apparatus 300 connected to the transmitting device 100 fromthe remote controller 400 and transmits the control data for thereceived remote control signal to the transmitting device 100 using thewireless communication scheme connected to the transmitting device 100to allow the corresponding device to perform an operation correspondingto the remote control signal. Thus, the user can control the operationof the external apparatus 300 using the remote controller 400 at alocation adjacent to the receiving device 200.

Further, when the receiving device 200 is a television, the user usuallyis watching the screen of the television. Thus, the user can continue toview the television while controlling the external apparatus 300. Thatis, the user does not have to stop viewing the television to control theexternal apparatus 300, but can continually look at or view informationon the television while controlling the external apparatus 300.

Next, FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, thetransmitting device 100 includes an interface unit 110, a first signalprocessing unit 120, a first RF transmitting/receiving unit 130, an IRgeneration unit 140, and an IR transmitting unit 150. In addition, theinterface unit 110 transmits and receives a signal to and from theexternal apparatus 300 via input terminals such as an HDMI, a USB, acomponent, an RGB, etc. for connecting the external apparatus 300.

In addition, the first signal processing unit 120 can convert signalsreceived from the external apparatus 300, for example, a video signaland an audio signal into data of a wireless transmittable format inaccordance with a predetermined wireless communication scheme and outputthe converted data. For example, when the signals received from theexternal apparatus 300 are encoded by a coding scheme such as MPEG, thefirst signal processing unit 120 can include an A/V processing unit fordecoding the video and audio signals received from the externalapparatus 300.

Also, the first RF transmitting/receiving unit 130 wirelessly transmitsthe signal output from the first signal processing unit 120 to thereceiving device 200. To do this, the first RF transmitting/receivingunit 130 includes an antenna and a converter, i.e., an up-converter anda down-converter. Further, according to the embodiment of the presentinvention, the first RF transmitting/receiving unit 130 can receivecontrol data for controlling the operation of the external apparatus 300from the receiving device 200 using the wireless communication scheme,i.e., WiFi, WHDi, WiFi, or the like.

In addition, the IR generation unit 140 generates a remote controlsignal for controlling the operation of the external apparatus 300, thatis, an infrared signal for the control data received from the receivingdevice 200. Further, the IR transmitting unit 150 transmits the infraredsignal generated by the IR generation unit 140 to the external apparatus300 and the external apparatus 300 performs an operation correspondingto the infrared signal transmitted from the IR transmitting unit 150 ofthe transmitting device 100. Therefore, the operation of the externalapparatus 300 can be controlled using the infrared signal.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, thetransmitting device 100 can transmit the control data wirelesslytransmitted from the receiving device 200 to the external apparatus 300through the interface unit 110. For example, the first signal processingunit 120 can convert the received control data into a signal of a formatto be transmitted to the external apparatus 300 in accordance with aninterface with the external apparatus 300 and output the signal, and theinterface unit 110 can transmit the control data processed by the firstsignal processing unit 120 to the external apparatus 300. Accordingly,the external apparatus 300 can receive the control data through theinterface unit 110 of the transmitting device 100 and perform anoperation corresponding to the inputted control data.

Next, FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the receiving device 200according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, thereceiving device 200 includes a second RF transmitting/receiving unit210, a second signal processing unit 220, a band pass filter 230, and anIR receiving unit 240. Further, the second RF transmitting/receivingunit 210 can wirelessly receive the media signal, for example, the videosignal and the audio signal from the transmitting device 100 and fordoing this includes an antenna and a converter, more specifically, anup-converter and a down-converter.

In addition, the second signal processing unit 220 can convert thesignal received by the second RF transmitting/receiving unit 210 into aformat that can be output in a display device. For example, when thesignal received from the transmitting device 100 is encoded inaccordance with a coding scheme such as MPEG, etc., the second signalprocessing unit 220 includes an A/V processing unit for decoding thereceived video and audio signals. Also, the IR receiving unit 240 canreceive an infrared signal for controlling the operation of the externalapparatus 300 connected to the transmitting device 100 from the remotecontroller 400. The band pass filter 230 also filters and extracts datafor controlling the external apparatus 300 from the received infraredsignal. Meanwhile, the extracted control data can be converted into aformat wirelessly transmittable through the second signal processingunit 220, and thereafter be transmitted to the transmitting device 100through the second RF transmitting/receiving unit 210. For example, thecontrol data for the external apparatus 300 can be transmitted to thetransmitting device 100 by using the wireless communication scheme suchas the WiHD, WHDi, WiFi, or the like.

Hereinafter, a method for processing a remote control signal accordingto an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In moredetail, an example in which a control signal is transmitted and receivedbetween the remote controller 400 and the receiving device 200 andbetween the transmitting device 100 and the external apparatus 300 willbe described. However, the present invention is not limited totransmission and reception of the control signal using the infraredcommunication scheme and the remote control signal may be transmittedand received using various wireless communication methods, for example,the communication method using the RF signal or the optical signal inaddition to the infrared communication scheme. Components in FIGS. 1 to4 will also be referred to throughout the description.

Turning first to FIG. 5, a flowchart illustrating a method forcontrolling an external device according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is shown. As shown in FIG. 5, the IR receiving unit 240 of thereceiving device 200 receives an infrared signal transmitted from theremote controller 400 (step 500). As discussed above, the receivedinfrared signal is a remote control signal for controlling an operationof the external apparatus 300 connected to the transmitting device 100.In more detail, the remote controller 400 can receive key inputs forcontrolling the operation of the external apparatus 300 connected to thetransmitting device 100, and generate and transmit the infrared signalcorresponding to the key inputs. The IR receiving unit 240 then receivesthe infrared signal transmitted from the remote controller 400.

Further, the band pass filter 230 extracts data for controlling theoperation of the external apparatus 300 from the received infraredsignal (step 510). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the infrared signalreceived from the remote controller 400 includes a leader code, a customcode, and a data code as data for controlling the external apparatus300, and more specifically includes the leader code, the custom code, acustom code verification byte, the data code, and a data codeverification byte. Further, each of the codes may have data of 2 bytes,that is, 8 bits and the infrared signal may include an ending signal bit(10).

Meanwhile, the control data can be transmitted from the remotecontroller 400 to the receiving device 200 by being loaded on a carriersignal having a predetermined frequency and a predetermined duty ratio.That is, the remote controller 400 can generate a baseband signal as thecontrol data corresponding to the operation of the external apparatus300, which the user inputs, and generate and transmit the infraredsignal to the receiving device 200 by synthesizing the baseband signalwith the carrier signal having the predetermined frequency and thepredetermined duty ratio. Further, the carrier signal may have afrequency of 30 kHz to 60 kHz and a duty ratio of 1/2 to 1/3. Thesignals transmitted from the remote control 400 to the receiving device200 will hereinafter be referred to as remote control signal or infraredsignal.

Thus, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the infraredsignal can be transmitted by synthesizing the baseband signal includingthe control data of the external apparatus 300 with the carrier signalhaving the frequency of 37 kHz and the duty ratio 1/3. For example, inthe control data included in the baseband signal, the leader code may beconstituted by a high of 9 ms and a low of 4.5 ms, bit ‘1’ may beconstituted by a high of 0.56 ms and a low of 1.69 ms, and bit ‘0’ maybe constituted by a high of 0.56 ms and a low of 0.565 ms. Further, theleader code, the custom code, and the data code may constitute one frameand the frame may be repeated at a cycle of 108 ms.

Also, in step 510, the band pass filter 230 can extract the basebandsignal including the control data for the external data 300 by filteringthe infrared signal received from the remote controller 400, and inwhich the baseband signal may be an envelope of the received infraredsignal. For example, the band pass filter 230 may be a 38 kHz band passfilter. Therefore, the band pass filter 230 can extract the control datafor controlling the external apparatus 300 by removing only the carrierfrequency from the infrared signal input from the IR receiving unit 240to detect only waveforms of the leader code, the custom code, and thedata code.

The second RF transmitting/receiving unit 210 then wirelessly transmitsthe control data of the external apparatus 300, which is extracted bythe band pass filter 230 to the transmitting device 100 (step 520). Forexample, the second signal processing unit 220 can convert the controldata included in the baseband signal output from the band pass filter230, that is, the leader code, the custom code, and the data code intodata of a format which is wirelessly transmittable using thepredetermined wireless communication scheme, i.e., the WiHD, the WHDi,the WiFi, or the like and output the signal to the second RFtransmitting/receiving unit 210. The second RF transmitting/receivingunit 210 can then wirelessly transmit the control data of the externalapparatus 300, which is output from the second signal processing unit220, to the transmitting device 100.

As described above, the receiving device 200 extracts the basebandsignal from the infrared signal received from the remote controller 400and wirelessly transmits only the control data of the external apparatus300, which is included in the baseband signal to the transmitting device100 so as to reduce the amount of data wirelessly transmitted andreceived between the transmitting device 100 and the receiving device200.

Next, FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling aremote control signal according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. In particular, FIG. 6 illustrates the transmitting device 100processing the control data of the external apparatus 300, whichwirelessly transmitted from the receiving device 200 as described inFIG. 5. As shown FIG. 6, the first RF transmitting/receiving unit 130 ofthe transmitting device 100 receives the control data of the externalapparatus 300, which is wirelessly transmitted from the receiving device200 (step 600).

For example, the control data received into the first RFtransmitting/receiving unit 130 may be data included in the basebandsignal among the infrared signal received into the receiving device 200from the remote controller 400 in order to control the externalapparatus 300 connected to the transmitting device 100. Further, in stepS600, the control data of the external apparatus 300 received from thereceiving device 200 includes the leader code, the custom code, and thedata code. The IR generation unit 140 then generates an infrared signal,which is the remote control signal for controlling the operation of theexternal apparatus 300, using the control data received in the first RFtransmitting/receiving unit 130 (step 610).

For example, the IR generation unit 140 can generate the baseband signalincluding the control data of the external apparatus 300 and generatethe infrared signal by synthesizing the generated baseband signal with acarrier signal having a predetermined frequency and a predetermined dutyratio. More specifically, the IR generation unit 140 can generate thebaseband signal to include the leader code, the custom code, and thedata code of the control data received by the first RFtransmitting/receiving unit 130, and synthesize the generated basebandsignal with a carrier signal having a frequency of 37 kHz and a dutyratio of 1/3 and output the generated infrared signal. Further, the IRtransmitting unit 150 transmits the infrared signal generated to theexternal apparatus 300 in order to control the operation of the externalapparatus 300 (step 620). Therefore, the external apparatus 300 performsan operation corresponding to the infrared signal received from the IRtransmitting unit 150 of the transmitting device 100.

Next, FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receivingsystem according to another embodiment of the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 8, a plurality of external apparatuses 300, 310, and 320are connected to the transmitting device 100. The plurality of externalapparatuses 300, 310, and 320 may be apparatuses that are connected tothe transmitting device 100 to supply the media signal, for example, thevideo signal and the audio signal to the transmitting device 100.Further, the external apparatuses 300, 310, and 320 may be variousdevices including a video playing device such a Divix player, a blue-rayplayer, or the like, a set-top box such as an IPTV set-top box, a cableset-top box, a satellite set-top box, or the like, a PC, a game machine,a home theater, a portable terminal, a hard disk recorder, etc.

In addition, a user can perform key input for controlling the operationof any one of the plurality of external apparatuses 300, 310, and 320using the remote controller 400, and the remote controller 400 thengenerates an infrared signal corresponding to the user's key input andtransmits the generated infrared signal to the receiving device 200.Thus, as described above, the receiving device 200 can extract thecontrol data for controlling the corresponding external apparatus fromthe infrared signal received from the remote controller 400 and transmitthe control data of the external apparatus to the transmitting device100 using the wireless communication scheme such as the WiHD, WHDi,WiFi, or the like.

Also, when the received remote control signal is the signal forcontrolling the operation of any one of the transmitting device 100 orthe plurality of external apparatuses 300, 310, and 320, the receivedremote control signal can be wirelessly transmitted to the transmittingdevice 100 in addition to the apparatus identification information usingthe wireless communication scheme such as the WiHD, WHDi, WiFi, or thelike. Further, the transmitting device 100 generates an infrared signalfor controlling the corresponding external apparatus by using thecontrol data received from the receiving device 200, and for example,can generate the infrared signal by synthesizing the baseband signalincluding the control data with a carrier signal having a predeterminedfrequency and a predetermined duty ratio as discussed above.

In addition, the transmitting device 100 transmits the generatedinfrared signal to the corresponding external apparatus. Thetransmitting device 100 can also verify which external apparatus of theplurality of external apparatuses 300, 310, and 320 the control data isused to control by analyzing the received control data. For example, thetransmitting device 100 generates the infrared signal using the receivedcontrol data to transmit the generated infrared signal to the firstexternal apparatus 300 when the received control data is used to controlthe first external apparatus 300.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 8, the remote controller 400 is shown, but accordingto another embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of remotecontrollers corresponding to the plurality of external apparatuses 300,310, and 320, respectively may be provided. Accordingly, an infraredsignal transmitted from a predetermined remote controller may betransmitted to an external apparatus corresponding to the remotecontroller among the plurality of external apparatuses 300, 310, and 320through the receiving device 200 and the transmitting device 100.

Next, FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receivingsystem according to another embodiment of the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 9, a display device 700 includes the receiving device 200having the above-mentioned configuration and a display module 710. Thatis, the transmitting device 100 receives the media signal from theexternal apparatus 300 and wirelessly transmits the received mediasignal to the receiving device 200, and the receiving device 200provided in the display device 700 processes the wirelessly transmitteddata into a video signal of a displayable format and outputs theprocessed data to the display module 710. Thus, in this embodiment, thereceiving device 200 is integrated within the display device 700.

Further, the display module 710 can display a video using the videosignal input from the receiving device 200. In particular, the displaymodule 710 includes display panels of various display types such as aliquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an electroluminescent display (ELD), a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), etc. Inaddition, an IR receiving unit 720 provided in the display device 700can receive the infrared signal for controlling the external apparatus300, which is transmitted from the remote controller 400. Also, asdescribed above, the receiving device 200 provided in the display device700 extracts the control data of the external apparatus 300 from theinfrared signal received from the remote controller 400 to wirelesslytransmit the extracted control data to the transmitting device 100.

Next, FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the remote controller 400according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, theremote controller 400 includes an RF receiving unit 410, a control unit420, a user input unit 430, and a control signal transmitting unit 440.Further, the RF receiving unit 410 can receive information on theexternal apparatus 300 wirelessly transmitted from the transmittingdevice 100. Also, the user input unit 430 includes a plurality of keybuttons for user inputs or displays the plurality of key buttons using atouch panel to receive an input for controlling the operation of theexternal apparatus 300 from the user. The control signal transmittingunit 440 can also generate and transmit the user inputs using the userinput unit 430, that is, a remote control signal corresponding to theoperation of the external apparatus 300 which the user wants.

Thus, according to embodiments of the present invention, the controlsignal transmitting unit 440 of the remote controller 400 can transmitthe generated remote control signal to the receiving device 200.Further, the external apparatus 300 can be controlled by transmittingthe remote control signal transmitted to the receiving device 200through a wireless network in the transmitting device 100. The controlunit 420 also controls the overall operation of the remote controller400, i.e., the operations of the user input unit 430 and the controlsignal transmitting unit 440.

In addition, the control unit 420 can control the user input unit 430 todisplay changed key buttons for user's input depending on the externalapparatus 300 connected to the transmitting device 100 using theinformation on the external apparatus 300 received from the transmittingdevice 100 or the receiving device 200 through the RF receiving unit410.

In more detail, FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method forcontrolling an external apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the RF receiving unit 410receives the information on the external apparatus 300 from thetransmitting device 100 or the receiving device 200, i.e., a signalcorresponding to the type of the external apparatus 300 (step 800). Morespecifically, the RF receiving unit 410 can receive the information onthe external apparatus 300 from the transmitting device 100 usingvarious wireless communication schemes such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, RFcommunication, or the like. The user input unit 430 then displays thechanged key buttons for the user input depending on the receivedinformation on the external apparatus 300 (step 810), and the user canperform input operations for controlling the operation of the externalapparatus 300 using the displayed key buttons (step 820).

For example, the control unit 420 can determine the type of the externalapparatus 300 connected to the transmitting device 100 and control theuser input unit 430 to differently display the changed key buttonsdepending on the determined type of the external apparatus 300. Morespecifically, the key buttons required to control the operation of theexternal apparatus 300 may be different from each other depending on thetype of the external apparatus 300. Thus, the user input unit 430 candisplay key buttons among the plurality of key buttons corresponding tothe external apparatus 300, that is, the key buttons required to controlthe operation of the external apparatus 300 to be identified to theuser.

In addition, in one embodiment of the present invention, the user inputunit 430 can include the plurality of key buttons which the user canselect and press and display the key buttons corresponding to theexternal apparatus 300 to be identified from the rest of key buttonsamong the plurality of key buttons. Thereafter, the control signaltransmitting unit 440 generates the user's input using the user inputunit 430, that is, a remote control signal corresponding to theoperation of the external apparatus 300 which the user wants (step 830)and transmits the generated remote control signal to the receivingdevice 200 (step 840).

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the remote controller 400, morespecifically, the user input unit 430 provided in the remote controller400 includes a plurality of key buttons, i.e., a power on/off button431, numeric buttons 432, channel up/down buttons 433, volume up/downbuttons 434, and buttons 435 for playing video. Further, FIG. 13 is adiagram illustrating the remote controller 400 shown in FIG. 12displaying changed key buttons depending on the external apparatus 300.In this example, the external apparatus 300 connected to thetransmitting device 100 through the external input is a ‘DVD player’. Byconsidering the operation of the external apparatus 300 which is the‘DVD player’, the numeric buttons 432 and the channel up/down buttons433 among the key buttons shown in FIG. 12 are key buttons that are notrequired to control the external apparatus 300.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, the remote controller 400 displays thepower on/off button 431, the volume up/down buttons 434, and the buttons435 for playing the video that are required to control the externalapparatus 300 which is the ‘DVD player’ to be identified from the restof the unnecessary numeric buttons 432 and channel up/down buttons 433.More specifically, the power on/off button 431, the volume up/downbuttons 434, and the buttons 435 for playing the video corresponding tothe external apparatus 300 are turned on and the rest of the numericbuttons 432 and channel up/down buttons 433 are turned off and thus aredisplayed dark.

In more detail, each of the key buttons 431-435 provided in the remotecontroller 400 include light sources controlled by the control unit 420.Thus, only the key buttons among the plurality of key buttons 431-435corresponding to the external apparatus 300, that is, the power on/offbutton 431, the volume up/down buttons 434, and the buttons 435 forplaying the video are activated or lit, while the rest of the numericbuttons 432 and channel up/down buttons 433 are deactivated. Further,even if the key buttons that do not correspond to the external apparatus300, that is, the numeric buttons 432 and the channel up/down buttons433 are pressed by the user, the resulting operation is not performed.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the userinput unit 430 can display the key buttons corresponding to the externalapparatus 300, that is, only key buttons required to control theoperation of the external apparatus 300. For example, as shown in FIG.14, the remote controller 400, more specifically, the user input unit430 includes a touch panel 450 for displaying the plurality of keybuttons and receiving the user input for the displayed key buttons.

Further, the control unit 420 displays only the key buttonscorresponding to the external apparatus 300 on the touch panel 450. Thatis, when the external apparatus 300 connected to the transmitting device100 through the external input is the ‘DVD player’, only the key buttonscorresponding to the external apparatus 300, that is, the power on/offbutton 431, the volume up/down buttons 434, and the buttons 435 forplaying the video that are required to control the operation of theexternal apparatus 300 are displayed on the touch panel 450 as shown inFIG. 14.

Next, FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receivingsystem according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 15, the plurality of external apparatuses 300, 310, and320 are connected to the transmitting device 100. As discussedpreviously, the plurality of external apparatuses 300, 310, and 320 maybe apparatuses that are connected to the transmitting device 100 tosupply the media signal, for example, the video signal and the audiosignal to the transmitting device 100. Further, the external apparatuses300, 310, and 320 may be various devices including a video playingdevice such a Divix player, a blue-ray player, or the like, a set-topbox such as an IPTV set-top box, a cable set-top box, a satelliteset-top box, or the like, a PC, a game machine, a home theater, aportable terminal, a hard disk recorder, etc.

In addition, the transmitting device 100 receives a signal, i.e., thevideo signal and the audio signal from any one of the plurality ofexternal apparatuses 300, 310, and 320 through an external input of asignal to be wirelessly transmitted to the receiving device 200. Also,as described above, the transmitting device 100 wirelessly transmitsinformation on any external apparatus connected to the external inputamong the plurality of external apparatuses 300, 310, and 320 to theremote controller 400. Further, the remote controller 400 displayschanged key buttons for user's input depending on the information on theexternal apparatus, which is received from the transmitting device 100.For example, when the transmitting device 100 is connected to the secondexternal apparatus 310 which is the ‘DVD player’ through the externalinput, the transmitting device 100 transmits information indicating thatthe currently connected external apparatus is the second externalapparatus 310 which is the ‘DVD player’ to the remote controller 400.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, key buttons corresponding to the ‘DVDplayer’ are displayed on the user input unit 430 provided in the remotecontroller 400, for example, the touch panel 450, and informationindicating that the external apparatus which can be currently controlledby using the remote controller 400 is the ‘DVD player’ is displayed at apredetermined region 454. According to yet another embodiment of thepreset invention, as shown in FIG. 15, the remote controller 400 candirectly transmit the remote control signal for controlling the externalapparatus to the corresponding external apparatus.

That is, when the user who uses the remote controller 400 is positionedsufficiently close or adjacent to the external apparatus to becontrolled, the remote controller 400 can directly transmit the remotecontrol signal to the corresponding external apparatus. However, whenthe user is positioned adjacent to the receiving device 200 that is faraway from the external apparatus, the remote controller 400 transmitsthe remote control signal to the receiving device 200 so as to transmitthe remote control signal to the corresponding external apparatusthrough the receiving device 200 and the transmitting device 100 asdescribed above.

Next, FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting/receivingsystem according to still another embodiment of the present invention.As shown in FIG. 17, the plurality of remote controllers 400, 401, and402 are used to control the plurality of external apparatuses 300, 310,and 320, respectively. Further, the plurality of remote controller 400,401, and 402 can receive information on a particular external apparatusamong the plurality of external apparatuses 300, 310, and 320, which isconnected to the external input from the transmitting device 100.Meanwhile, the plurality of remote controllers 400, 401, and 402 canverify whether or not to control the external apparatus currentlyconnected through the external input using the information on theexternal apparatus, which is received from the transmitting device 100.

Therefore, information indicating whether or not to control thecurrently selected external apparatus can be displayed on each of theplurality of remote controller 400, 401, and 402. For example, when thetransmitting device 100 is connected to the second external apparatus310 which is the ‘DVD player’ through the external input, thetransmitting device 100 can transmit information indicating that thecurrently connected external apparatus is the second external apparatus310 which is the ‘DVD player’ to the remote controllers 400, 401, and402. The plurality of remote controllers 400, 401, and 402 that receivethe information on the external apparatuses can verify whether or not tocontrol the second external apparatus 310. In this instance, the secondremote controller 401 can control the second external apparatus 310connected to the transmitting device 100 through the external input andthe rest of the remote controllers do not control the second externalapparatus 310.

Referring to FIG. 18, the remote controller 400 (and other remotecontrollers) can include a display having a region 436 indicatingwhether or not the corresponding controller can control the externalapparatus. In this example, the region 436 indicates that the secondexternal apparatus 310 cannot be controlled using the remote controller400 (e.g., the light is turned off in the region 436 indicating theapparatus 310 can not be controlled). Further, at the same time, all keybuttons 431-435 can be maintained in a deactivated state indicating thefirst remote controller 400 cannot control the second external apparatus310 selected as the external input.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 19, the second remote controller 401 thatcan control the second external apparatus 310 selected as the externalinput turns on the light in the region 436 and at the same timeactivates the power on/off button 431, the volume up/down buttons 434,and the buttons for playing the video to indicate the remote controller401 can control the second external apparatus 310. Further, referring toFIG. 20, the remote controller 401 can include a display region 455 fordisplaying the external apparatus that can be controlled (the DVD playerin this example).

In addition, the embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed using the situation where the remote controller 400 receivesthe information on the external apparatus 300 from the transmittingdevice 100. However, the present invention is not limited to thisarrangement. For example, the remote controller 400 can receive theinformation on the external apparatus 300 currently connected to thetransmitting device 100 from the receiving device 200. To do this, thereceiving device 200 receives the information on the external apparatus300 from the transmitting device 100 using the wireless network orpreviously stores the information.

Thus, according to embodiments of the present invention, a receivingdevice receives a remote control signal for an external apparatusconnected to a transmitting device and wirelessly transmits the remotecontrol signal to the transmitting device to control the externalapparatus, such that a user who uses the receiving device can controlexternal apparatuses provided in a transmitting/receiving system using aremote control device such as a remote controller, etc., therebyimproving the user's convenience. Further, it is possible to easilycontrol a plurality of external apparatuses with a small number of keybuttons by displaying changed key buttons of the remote control devicedepending on the external apparatus connected to the transmittingdevice, thereby improving the user's convenience.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented bya computer-readable recording medium in which a program to be executedis recorded. The described embodiments can be stored in acomputer-readable recording medium by being produced as a program to beexecuted in a computer. An example of the computer-readable recordingmedium includes a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk,an optical data storage, etc. and in addition, also includes Internettransmissions. The computer-readable recording media are distributed oncomputer systems connected through a network, and thus acomputer-readable code may be stored and executed by a distributionscheme. In addition, a functional program, a code, and code segments forimplementing the control method will be easily interred by programmersskilled in the art.

The present invention encompasses various modifications to each of theexamples and embodiments discussed herein. According to the invention,one or more features described above in one embodiment or example can beequally applied to another embodiment or example described above. Thefeatures of one or more embodiments or examples described above can becombined into each of the embodiments or examples described above. Anyfull or partial combination of one or more embodiment or examples of theinvention is also part of the invention.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, itshould also be understood that the above-described embodiments are notlimited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unlessotherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within itsspirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore allchanges and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of theclaims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds are therefore intendedto be embraced by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling devices connected together, the method comprising: determining a type of a first device when the first device is connected to a transmitting device; determining what key buttons on a remote controller are needed to operate the determined type of the first device; activating the key buttons on the remote controller that are needed to operate the determined type of the first device; receiving an input signal indicating a selection of at least one key button needed to operate the determined type of the first device; transmitting the received input signal to a second device that is different than the first device; generating, by the second device, a remote control signal corresponding to the received input signal; transmitting, by the second device, the generated remote control signal to the first device; and performing a function on the first device corresponding the input signal indicating the selection of said at least one key button on the remote controller.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the activating step comprises: turning on backlight units only for the key buttons on the remote controller that are determined to be needed to operate the determined type of the first device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the activating step comprises: displaying only soft key buttons on a touch screen of the remote controller that are needed to operate the determined type of the first device.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining if the remote controller controls the first device.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein when the determining step determines the remote controller does not control the first device, the method further comprises displaying an indicator on the remote controller that the remote controller does not control the first device.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein when the determining step determines the remote controller does not control the first device, the method further comprises turning off all backlight units for the key buttons on the remote controller.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting device is separated from the first device or is included in the first device, and is configured to convert at least one of an audio/video and data signal received from the first device into a wireless signal and to transmit the converted wireless signal to the second device.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the wireless signal transmitted from the transmitting device to the second device include wireless signals using at least one of WiHD, WHDi and WiFi.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote control signal is any one of an infrared signal, an RF signal and an optical signal.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device at least one of a Divix player, a home theatre system, a disc recorder, a Blu Ray player, a DVD player, and a game player, and the second device includes a television.
 11. A system for controlling devices connected together, the system comprising: a display device including: a remote control interface; and an extraction device; a remote control configured to interface and control an operation of the display device through the remote control interface; and a transmitting device configured to interface with an external apparatus and the display device, wherein when an input key is selected on the remote control intended for performing an operation on the external apparatus, the remote control is further configured to generate a first remote control signal including control data corresponding to performing the operation on the external apparatus and to transmit the remote control signal to the remote control interface of the display device, the display device is further configured to convert the first remote control signal received from the remote control including the control data into a wireless control communication signal different than the first remote control signal and to transmit the wireless communication signal to the transmitting device, and the transmitting device is further configured to receive the wireless communication signal from the receiving device, generate a second remote control signal that includes the control data and transmit the second remote control signal including the control data to the external apparatus such that the external apparatus is operated via the remote control interfacing with the display device, and wherein the display device further includes: a band pass filter configured to extract the control data for performing the operation on the external apparatus from the first remote control signal; a signal processor configured to convert the first remote control signal received from the remote control including the control data into the wireless control communication signal; and a transmitter configured to transmit the wireless communication signal to the transmitting device.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the remote control further includes a control unit configured to determine a type of external apparatus connected to the transmitting device, to determine what key buttons on the remote control are needed to operate the determined type of the external apparatus, and to activate only the key buttons on the remote control that are needed to operate the determined type of the external apparatus.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the control unit of the remote control is further configured to activate only the key buttons on the remote control that are needed to operate the determined type of the external apparatus by turning on backlight units only for the key buttons on the remote controller that are determined to be needed to operate the determined type of the first device or by displaying only soft key buttons on a touch screen of the remote controller that are needed to operate the determined type of the first device.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the remote control includes a touch screen configured to display soft touch key buttons that are needed to operate the determined type of the external apparatus.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the remote control further includes an indication area configured to indicate the determined type of the external apparatus.
 16. A method for controlling a device, the method comprising: determining a type of a first device; determining what key buttons on a remote controller are needed to operate the determined type of the first device; activating the key buttons on the remote controller that are needed to operate the determined type of the first device; receiving an input signal indicating a selection of at least one key button needed to operate the determined type of the first device; transmitting the received input signal to the first device; performing a function on the first device corresponding to the input signal indicating the selection of said at least one key button on the remote controller; and determining if the remote controller controls the first device, wherein when the determining step determines the remote controller does not control the first device, the method further comprises displaying an indicator on the remote controller that the remote controller does not control the first device, and wherein when the determining step determines the remote controller does not control the first device, the method further comprises turning off all backlight units for the key buttons on the remote controller.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the activating step further comprises: turning on backlight units only for the key buttons on the remote controller that are determined to be needed to operate the determined type of the first device.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the activating step further comprises: displaying only soft key buttons on a touch screen of the remote controller that are needed to operate the determined type of the first device.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein a transmitting device is separated from the first device or is included in the first device, and wherein the transmitting device is configured to convert at least one of an audio/video and data signal received from the first device into a wireless signal and to transmit the converted wireless signal to a second device. 